Built for travel, not adapted to it
Many systems marketed to travel agencies started as generic business software and had travel-specific fields added later — a meaningfully different starting point than software designed around travel workflows from the beginning, and one that tends to show in the edges: fields that almost fit, reports that need manual adjustment, workflows that feel bolted on.
What being travel-native actually changes
When bookings, supplier costs, commission, and travel VAT are core concepts rather than customisations, the software's default behaviour matches what a travel agency actually needs — correct VAT treatment, visible profitability, connected invoicing — without requiring configuration to get there.
Where this shows up day to day
The practical difference shows up constantly: confirming a booking that just works the way a travel booking should, a P&L that separates commission from fees without a custom report being built, VAT that's correct because the system already understands travel service types.
The Muhasib approach
Muhasib was built around the Travel Bookings module as a first-class part of the platform alongside Accounts and CRM — travel workflows are the starting design point, not an add-on to a generic ERP.